BORDER SEARCH 24

del was propped up against a wagon wheel on andys wagon. maxine hadnt left his side since they returned from mexico. when she came to him with a small plate of food he asked her; "i slapped you, i denied you harrys silver but your takeing care of me as if i was your own child.whats up with all this?" " i cant slap you back until your well. you did your best to keep me from being taken by the bandits. i think i undrstand why now. ime grateful but i still want that silver we left behind."maxine was dead serious. " forget that sack woman, its in the hands of the revolutionests now and going back down there would be fatal.for me swift,for you slow and painful. no we are done down there." del took the plate of food from maxine and started to eat. maxine made a face and got up she turned to look at the horses. del noticed what she was looking at." get this straight lady , no sneaking off. i maybe stiff and sore but if i got to come after you again ill do more than slap your face! ill slap the other end with a hames strap!" "and why do you care what becomes of me?ive dealt you a lot of misery and got you shot.why?" maxine looked at him" your just the hired help. its not your problem what happenes to me." "if i let them guys have you it would get around that i dont tend to business. i wouldnt work again. besides your to good looking to waste on that bunch down there. if your gonna be wasted on some one i want it to be me!del grinned at her. maxine didnt know what to say except she wanted that sack of silver. del couldnt believe his ears. she wasnt about to change her mind.. andy stood in the middle of the road talking to a skinny young mexican vaquero. he had no rifle but wore a pistol his spurs hung from straps on his boots with rowels dragging in the dirt. he was bedraggled but still had a arrogent attitude. the fact he had walked into ruby wasnt lost on andy. the vaquero simply said he came from elias and was there to collect the tribute owed, harry sat on the steps at the store. at the demand of tribute he stood and with his shot gun walked over. he pointed south; " look there, eleas is no more." the three turned and looked south at the riseing plume of far away smoke. " dont try to pull that tribute stuff here. if your thirsty you can drink, if your hungry we will feed you, but tribute will never again be paid. i would venture to say elias is dead or like you running from the revolutionist army. if you dont lke what i just said you can walk back south into mexico or become aquinted with mr. green here" harry hefted the shot gun in front of eppi. eppi staggered back tripping on the big rowels of his spurs. andy looked down at the spurs. they were plated in silver." ill trade you two days worth of food for those spurs. if you take the supplys and leave." eppi looked from the shotgun to andy then back" trade!"